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WTF happened to Craftsman tools!?!?!

craftsman went down hill 15 years ago. i saw it when the screwdriver turned from steel to a half assed white metal. you break those and the look like a white sintered bronze. i still have a lot of craftsman from when i was younger. most of these are home and not at work so they might last, if they break i know i am only getting half the quality of what i had.
 
A Sears associate told me they are about to fold and suggested I replace any broken tools while I still can. It started with the tape measure fiasco.

-tapatalk and Devin McCourty blow chunks-
 
Craftsman is one of those brand names that has been prostituted to whoever will pay to slap it on their junk . Same as Remington, Winchester, etc.
 
Feel same way about the quality, I also recently had a very bad experience at the Dedham sears. I called customer service to replace a 3/8"-T30 safety torx bit and they send me a regular T30! Said my part was discontinued and they didn't have a replacement. I'd rather buy gears wrench now until I can afford snap-on or blue point tools...
 
Someone mentioned screwdrivers above, I was also turning a Craftsman Professional P3 screwdriver, the entire tip bent on me! No heat, nothing, just regular hand strength and it was bending! POS!
 
Friday said:
The Kobalt tools at Lowe's are an alt brand by Snap-on....
Click to expand...


+1. I have the 200pc set, the sockets for life program is the balls.

Also made in China and Taiwan. First World Problems. [laugh].

I bet we all drive GM/Ford/Chrysler cars too. [rofl].
 
Fixxah said:
A Sears associate told me they are about to fold and suggested I replace any broken tools while I still can. It started with the tape measure fiasco.

-tapatalk and Devin McCourty blow chunks-
Click to expand...

Are you saying associates at Sears have access to this sort of material non-public information that has eluded the investment community?
 
Glockaholic said:
Luckily I bought a lifetime of tools in the early 1980's.... Snap-On, MAC, Cornwell, MATCO, S-K, and I still have all of it and I rarely need a warranty replacement. Cripes my 1/2 inch impact gun is a Snap-On Blue Point that is close to 30 years old, runs like a watch, a few drops of oil in it every time I use it keeps it running.
Click to expand...

Jealous.
Wish I bought more years ago..
 
I'm not going to read this thread.

Why? Cause I can guarantee it's all stupid nonsense and China bashing (I hate China myself, but she ain't going nowhere). I asked about 2 stroke snowblowers the other day and got a bunch of bullshit as to why I should want a $1000 4 stroke. Which was clearly bullshit.

But I have your answer. If you want high quality tools, get off your lazy ass and log onto eBay. Every idiot is selling his grandfather's forged steel USA made tools for pennies. These a**h***s have no idea the quality of the goods they are selling. Every tool I own is made before 1960 and you can actually see machining marks.... god forbid. Antique tools are real tools, made to last forever. Yep, they look old. Because they have been functional for 100 years. My oldest chisel was made in 1830. Still works. Wow. Who would have thought.

So wise up and pay the goddamn Paypal fees and buy tools that will outlast you and your great-grandchildren, they are up for the taking.
 
All of my tools are Snapon, Matco, Cornwell, or MAC (former auto mechanic), and honestly even the Snapon stuff isn't as good as it used to be. And nearly all MAC stuff is made in China/Taiwan now. It's a shame
 
Equating Taiwan with China from a product quality standpoint is a fallacy. Taiwan, from a manufacturing standpoint, is a first world nation and they produce quality stuff. The odds that you're posting from a computer that has a motherboard designed in Taiwan is about 99.9%.

As for hand tools, most of mine are Craftsman Professional from the early to late 90s. I also have a fair bit of Snap On. The Snap On stuff is nicer but I haven't broken any of it save a few normal sockets I used with an impact wrench.

Most if not all Craftsman power tools are crap but at least as of a few years ago, some of their air tools were re-branded Ingersoll.
 
I have some Kobalt tools that are just as good and half the price. Some Kobalt stuff is crap, but they do have some decent items. I think certain Klein tools are great.
 
horseshoe crab said:
I have some Kobalt tools that are just as good and half the price. Some Kobalt stuff is crap, but they do have some decent items. I think certain Klein tools are great.
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another +1 on the Kobalt. i like that you can fondle them in the store. i was a small engine and generator mechanic my first three years in the Army. i know my shitty tools. [laugh] my father is an old-school mechanic from Dominican Republic... no sexy machines back then... when he came to the USA (legally), he had all Snap On... the Snap On truck used to come to the shop and swap out broken ratchets, wrenches that the monkies would break by using them outside of the specified use... i.e. using homemade breaker pars (pipes, other wrenches) to try and gain leverage on a seized bolt.....


just like anything else... "they don't make em like they used to" -regardless of origin.

i'm just going to ban / boycott life. i should just live naked in the woods and forage.... [laugh]
 
Can anyone comment on the quality of harbor freight Chicago line of tools? I have never seen this at any other place than hf.
 
Armstrong wrenches are good tools. You can get them from McMaster-Carr. I get my tools from yard sales and flea markets. Old tools that sell for .25 cents with a little rust on them. Those are the ones to buy.
 
boatman said:
Can anyone comment on the quality of harbor freight Chicago line of tools? I have never seen this at any other place than hf.
Click to expand...

I got their 45 pcs tap and die titanium nitride coat in metric and SAE I have not busted one yet,I use to go into taping stuff and planning on breaking a tap so I bought 2 or 3 cheapos.

Pittsburg is hit or miss....if you want to set up a minor home gunsmithing shop for hobby HF has everything.
 
boatman said:
Can anyone comment on the quality of harbor freight Chicago line of tools? I have never seen this at any other place than hf.
Click to expand...

You know honestly they are not bad for what they are but you do get what you pay for, but the good thing is HF is very liberal with their return policy. I've broken various lifetime replacement hand tools from HF and they will replace it no questions asked.
 
I go to sears now when I need a drill with a built in tape measure and a laser. They have gone tactacool with all the stuff they sell now. It reminds me of the " As Seen On T.V." crap.
I miss spending an hour or so walking the isles of the tool section of the old sears
 
ThePreBanMan said:
I actually try not to buy Craftsman anything these days. Power tools are Dewalt followed by Milwaukee. Hand tools I try to use SK which makes good cheap tools in my opinion. For air tools I try to stick to Ingersoll Rand. I'm not sure anything is made here anymore...
Click to expand...

This. Dewalt and Milwaukee's last forever.
 
Don't buy ANYTHING in a store. It's just not worth it. You pay a premium for stuff that is half the quality of the used tools made 30+ years ago. I would pay $50 for an SK or Craftsman Socket set made in the 70's and covered in rust. But SK these days is shit. I actually snapped one of their new sockets a few months ago, MIM junk- you could tell by the texture of the break. Every year we (the Chinese we employ) make crappier products. Frankly, I can't believe that any of it even makes it past QC. It's all junk. Buy a toaster from 1954 on eBay. Your great grand kids will still be using it. DON'T BUY ANYTHING NEW IF YOU CAN AVOID IT. The reason the antiques are still around is that they were built to last forever. And they still work.

Boys and girls, we're watching the downward spiral. I'm not sure when we'll hit rock bottom but we're getting closer every day. I'm waiting for those idiots at Foxcom to burn the whole place down. And the should, if they were smart.
 
Swamp_Yankee said:
Don't buy ANYTHING in a store. It's just not worth it. You pay a premium for stuff that is half the quality of the used tools made 30+ years ago. I would pay $50 for an SK or Craftsman Socket set made in the 70's and covered in rust. But SK these days is shit. I actually snapped one of their new sockets a few months ago, MIM junk- you could tell by the texture of the break. Every year we (the Chinese we employ) make crappier products. Frankly, I can't believe that any of it even makes it past QC. It's all junk. Buy a toaster from 1954 on eBay. Your great grand kids will still be using it. DON'T BUY ANYTHING NEW IF YOU CAN AVOID IT. The reason the antiques are still around is that they were built to last forever. And they still work.

Boys and girls, we're watching the downward spiral. I'm not sure when we'll hit rock bottom but we're getting closer every day. I'm waiting for those idiots at Foxcom to burn the whole place down. And the should, if they were smart.
Click to expand...

no.

for most of the stuff i buy, i like to see it in real life first. i don't when and where it was made. i trust my 5 senses over the internet every day. -with discretion of course.... if i see good reviews, say on a holster that no shops carry, i might order one.

but for tools? i want to fondle excessively and see how it would perform under routine use. case - in - point: i've torn my car, a Subaru WRX with my 200pc Kobalt tool set. i've even lost sockets or misplaced them and logged onto their website 4 times since installing an aftermarket intake, mud flaps, down pipe and heat shield to pay $4.95 shipping for 6-point (hex) 8mm and 10mm sockets. they get to my mailbox in a padded envelope within 2 days of me doing that.

that's quality... me being a dumbass and i can get a replacement socket to my mailbox quick. i've also changed the exhaust on this car using the same exhaust. then i put my OEM exhaust back on because the aftermarket was too loud.

no sign of wear and the tools looked *used*.... not all shiny like a safe-queen gun either.
 
you know why those tools are made in China?

because American workers are lazy, greedy, unionized a**h***s. Maybe someone should petition congress to pass a bill outlawing fat pieces of self entitled shit?
 

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